Writing for a better democracy

We Americans have permitted our government to behave this way. The shutdown may be over for now, but the border wall battle rages on with another showdown coming in three weeks. We tolerated forcing 800,000 federal employees to live without a paycheck. We consented to the drag on our economy. We accepted the long TSA lines. But we don’t have to. And we shouldn’t. This is our country and our government.

But many people are tired. They are tired of the lies and the inaction and the blaming and the bickering coming out of Washington. Some I know have simply stopped watching the news. They just can’t take it anymore.

Others are waiting to see what happens next. So America waits, either out of exhaustion or wariness. And nothing changes.

Unlike a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, ignoring the President is unlikely to end his bad behavior. He is more likely to behave like a kid who doesn’t get caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar – he’ll keep ruining his dinner and move on to the cash in your bureau drawer. And like children bickering in the back seat, Congress, too, will continue its contentious ways if we don’t threaten to “come back there” by voting for someone else in the next election.

Urging the need for a border wall, President Trump calls the immigrants “a humanitarian crisis . . . on our Southern border” and an “invasion” that is “bad and dangerous . . . for our ENTIRE COUNTRY.”[1]

But a Texas Congressman with a district along the border calls that a “myth” and the border wall “a third-century solution to a 21st-century problem.”[2] Republican Will Hurd offers a common-sense approach to address the problems of drugs and immigrants entering this country illegally. He proposes four solutions: [3]

Erect a barrier only where cities in America and Mexico butt up against each other at the border, like El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Increase “security at points of entry, where the bulk of illegal drugs come into the U.S.;”

Improve “technology along the border to create a ‘smart fence;’” and

Develop a “Marshall Plan for Central America” to improve life there so migrants will stay in their own countries.

The only thing left out of this plan is the majority of immigrants in this country — those who overstay their visas. So we need to provide additional funding for their apprehension as well.

Let’s all get on board with this Republican and end this shutdown permanently by doing something about border security that will make a difference, not a monument. Reach out to your representatives in Congress – by phone, email, or postcard — and let them know what makes sense to you.